As it transpires, lots of characters are not what they initially seemed, the little girl isn’t so helpless but rather heralds the Antichrist, a Nazi collaborator is really a Holocaust survivor of a type. Issue 4 seems widely accepted as a good standalone story, though in retrospect this demonic entity doesn’t have enough to do with a shortly follower reveal about another demonic entity. This stand alone issue is fine, no great shakes, but Alan Moore’s direct sequel (while somewhat contradicting events from Issue 3’s ending) is supremely better. Issue 3 tries to tie the vampire story in with modern youthful nihilism, particularly in regards to punk rock.

While an ongoing arc about a powerful little girl being hunted that Swampy wants to protect is established in issue 1, the early issues follow almost an X-Files rhythm or ongoing arcs and standalone stories (which only ran for one or two issues at most). If he never illuminates the character, or supporting cast, with the weight that Alan Moore did so frequently and frequently well, he did manage to strike a handy balance between a more grounded and contemporary story (no 1800s Frankenstein villages here) and the classic Monsters of the original series.

To be honest, I like Yeates art fine and Pasko’s writing - aside from some awful dialogue and the standard comic book disability of frequent recapping, his attempts to bring Swampy into the 1980s, add more urgent ongoing arcs and broaden the scope of characters is admirable. Martin Pasko and Tom Yeates were the general creative team as writer and artist, respectively and their work is largely dismissed in the shadow of the Alan Moore/Steve Bissette and John Totleben run that followed. After the 1970s run finished, Swamp Thing was adapted with partial success for the movie screen and as a tie in, DC revived the character, picking up a few years later, in a new book called Saga of the Swamp Thing.

Saga of the swamp thing book 1